Rajan Anandan is clearly among the most loved and treasured angel investors in the Indian startup ecosystem for any entrepreneur. And that’s not only because of the cheques he writes, but also because he stands by the founders when they need him the most.
For this week’s second episode of the Outliers podcast, I asked Rajan to share some of his learnings from watching the founders fight the battles they do, and how they can navigate the pandemic.
“Look, you signed up to be a founder knowing it’s going to be extremely difficult, and guess what, now is the real test. So either you can stay and fight or you can give up and leave and I really do hope that founders stay and fight. Remember, fight thoughtfully. Even at war you need a strategy, I think this is the test, right. This is why founders become founders right, to do the absolute impossible,” says Rajan.
So what lies at the other end of this pandemic for founders?
“The founders who are going to make it through, the next 6-12-18 months are going to be very thoughtful, they are going to be extremely decisive and they are going to be amazingly empathetic. Those 3 things, without those 3 things, you will not make it through.”
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